教宗良一世推崇首位美國聖人為基督徒的典範，因其對移民的關懷。

Pope Leo on Saturday exalted the first American saint, Mother Frances Cabrini, as a model for Christians today to care for migrants in need, as he visited her birthplace during a day trip to northern Italy.

Leo, who has clashed with the Trump administration over its migrant crackdown, urged young people in particular to learn about Cabrini’s life and service, once again confirming history’s first US pope as the heir to Pope Francis in prioritising the plight of migrants.

After she died in 1917, as a naturalised US citizen in Leo’s native Chicago, Cabrini was beatified and then canonised in 1946 as the first American saint.

Leo asks what Francis would do

In praising Cabrini on Saturday, Leo said she was inspired by her faith to help those migrants who had left everything behind to try to find a better life.